Fashioning Publics: The Socially Responsive Design Practice of Vexed Generation

This chapter discusses smart wearables through a case study of the 'Illuminative Smart Fashion' project, which aimed to develop high value fashion garments that are able to sense and react to the changing environment by means of visual communication. According to the study 'A roadmap on smart textiles' conducted by Schwarz et al., the fashion and clothing sector acts as the most promising application among the clothing, interior and technical textiles industries for smart fashion and textile products. There is a steady growth of smart fashion and textile products in the market because of increasing consumer needs and demands for an improved quality of life. These smart products are vital for individualisation in mixed societies that are full of diversity and differing personal lifestyles, because smart products can be used to improve interpersonal communication and interaction. The coloration applied in prototypes 1 and 2 included five major colours which were placed in distinct areas of the fashion garment.